DeltaWing back on track after Wednesday crash

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The Nissan DeltaWing was back on track for Thursday evening's practice session for the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta after a heavy crash during a Wednesday practice session.

The accident occurred when a GTC-class Porsche 911 clipped the DeltaWing, sending it airborne and causing considerable damage to the car. The driver of the DeltaWing in the rollover accident, Gunnar Jeannette, was able to return to the car on Thursday.

Jeannette remained upbeat on Thursday as the crew continued to put the DeltaWing back together. “I'm pretty sore,” he said. “The neck took a good shot. But I'll be OK.

“We're going to skip the afternoon session and basically do a shakedown in the evening. [Driver] Lucas [Ordonez] and I will get in our mandatory laps and park the car, and then work on it again [Friday].”

Jeannette took to the track first for Thursday's evening practice session.

“[DeltaWing designer] Ben [Bowlby] said he wanted to get me back on the horse as quick as possible,” said Jeannette, who shook down the car and its new parts in a four- or five-lap stint. “I'm in the same mindset. It's very difficult in those situations. We wanted to make sure that we stayed out of everybody's way. It was nice towards the end of the run to be able to push it and get the good feeling for the car again.”

Jeanette's co-driver Ordonez followed in the car, running a reasonably fast pace during his short stint.

“The track was really tricky tonight. Very cold conditions,” said Ordonez. “We set a quite decent time in only four or five laps. So I'm happy for that and happy that the car is running well and we are safe.”

Bowlby was happy with the quick an efficient turnaround after the accident.

"The car is back together again and everything is exactly as we hoped it would be," Bowlby said. "Considering where we were on Wednesday afternoon, everyone is very happy and pleased. We have an enormous opportunity for the race and the car is very strong. I'm now really looking forward to Saturday."

In other action on Thursday, in the first practice sessions the No. 6 Muscle Milk HPD ARX-03a set fastest time of the day in the afternoon session at 1:11.209. The No. 35 Oak Racing Morgan was fastest in the second session at 1:13.758, and—in a very tightly spaced GT field—the No. 55 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing BMW was quickest, with a time of 1:20.137.